How to Save a Life
by xxHeartBrokenxx
Summary: Used to be named Losing a Loved One. Joe dies on his and Stella's wedding day. Nick and Stella help each other through it. What if it was supposed to be them all along? JONAS fanfic. Nick/Stella. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Stella's POV

"You look beautiful," Macy tells me as we look in the mirror at my reflection. I'm all dolled up in my wedding dress, and the ceremony is to start in ten minutes.

The day has come; I'm marrying Joe of JONAS, my life long best-friend. Macy is my maid of honor, her and Nick had split last year, no hard feelings.

I smile at her. "Thank you," I say. I have butterflies in my stomach.

Macy fixes my train and then continues to finish applying her makeup. "I can't believe you and Joe are actually getting married," she says. "I mean, I guess I always expected it, but now that it's really happening….I'm so happy for you Stella!"

She hugs me as my mom enters, saying, "Girls, it's time."

I take one last look at myself as we walk out, and remember the day Joe proposed.

_We stood on a boat, floating out in the ocean. It was summer vacation. I looked at the setting sun, saying, "It's so beautiful."_

"_Not as beautiful as you," Joe said. I looked at him and smiled, he returned it, with that smile he saved especially for me. I looked back at the sunset._

"_Stella," Joe said, I turned to look at him, and he was down on one knee. "I love you, and never want to let you go." _

_I stared him unbelieving. Was he really proposing? He pulled out a ring as he said, "Will you marry me?"_

_He slid the ring onto my finger. _

"_Yes, yes, yes! A million times yes!" I said, as I threw myself into his arms. _

I was convinced that at that time we were the happiest people on earth.

A/N: This was just an idea I had one day. Should I continue? Reviews would be appreciated! xxHeartBrokenxx


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I know it's short, and I know you've been waiting a long time, so I'm sorry! I don't know how long it will be before the next chapter's up. Please, please, please review and let me know what you think! It would make my day. Enjoy, and have a good day. xxHeartBrokenxx**

Joe's POV

I smile at myself in the mirror as I wash my hands. Pretty soon I'm going to be a married man. I turn the sink off and flick some water off my hands.

As I turn to get a paper towel I slip, knocking my head very violently against the counter. I cry out in pain and Nick rushes up.

I take his offered hand and stand, rubbing the back of my head.

"Are you okay?" Nick asks me worriedly.

"I-I'm fine," I say, leaning against the wall and sliding down to the floor, holding my head all the while.

"You're sure? That looked pretty nasty," Nick says.

"Yeah, that's 'cause it was. But I'm fine," I say.

Nick takes another anxious look at me as Big Man enters, saying, "It's time."

I take my place at the alter and watch the bridesmaids walk up. My smile grows bigger at the sight of Stella. She looks absolutely beautiful, as always.

She takes her place and the ceremony begins. As I look at the minister I start to feel woozy. Spots obscure my vision as the room starts spinning. What's going on? I start to stumble off balance and that's the last thing I remember.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here it is! Chapter 3. What do you guys think? Please review let me know! Have a great day. xxHeartBrokenxx**

Stella's POV

I sit in the house me and Joe were supposed to share together after we were married. We were going to come here after our reception, and then leave for our honeymoon the next morning. We had already moved some things in for that night.

Joe's funeral had been two days ago, and now I sit in this almost completely empty house, mourning the loss of a dearly loved one. The sky cries with me as I sit on the living room floor. This is pretty much all I've been doing since the wedding.

_Concussion, almost together, this close to happiness,_ the words echo in my head. He had fallen and hit his head just a few minutes before the wedding, and then when he collapsed he died almost immediately. All because he slipped and hit his head.

I've given up trying to convince myself it was nightmare. But I still hope that at any minute, I'll wake up to find none of it has ever happened. There's a knock on the door, and I turn my head to look at it. I don't have the strength to get up and open it.

The door opens, and Nick walks in. His hair, wet from the rain, sticks to his face. I put my face in my hands and begin to sob. I hear the door shut, and he picks me up. He sits down on the couch, and leaves me on his lap.

I put my arms around his neck and cry into his shoulder. He puts his left arm around my waist, and strokes my hair with his right hand. "It's going to be okay, it's going to be okay," he whispers in my ear.

Nick's POV

"It's going to be okay, it's going to be okay," I whisper in Stella's ear as I stroke her hair.

"No Nick, it's not," she sobs into my shoulder. "Joe's gone, and he's never coming back!" Her voice cracks.

I don't know what to tell her. Joe is gone. And he isn't ever coming back. I let a few tears fall from my eyes. My brother, her almost husband, gone forever. "We'll get through this together," I say quietly.

I feel her nod, as we both cry silently. I kiss her on the cheek, and feel the wetness from her tears. She and Joe would have had such a happy life together, it's a shame they never got it. His life didn't even last long enough for them to be joined husband and wife.

But I think it would have been harder on her, had they been married, then his life end. We are all going to miss him terribly; there is no one in the world who can replace Joe.

She sniffs a few times and is done crying for the moment. "Stella," I say. "I know this is really hard on you, it is on all of us. I just want you to know that I am _so_ sorry."

"I'm sorry too. He was your brother, Nick. Someone should be here comforting you," she says. My fingers brush across her shoulder as I move her hair back.

"We're here to comfort each other," I say. She wraps her arms around me tightly, as she begins to cry again. I do the same. We sit there for what starts as minutes, and then morphs into hours. And that's how we stay until Kevin and Macy show up.

She stands as the door opens, and Macy comes over and hugs her. She meets my eyes behind Macy's back and starts crying harder.

"How are you holding up?" I ask Kevin quietly, hoping my face isn't too tear stained.

"Not well," he says as his eyes starts to tear over. "How about you?"

"Only thing I can say is that I'm still alive," I say (A/N: Not like he would commit suicide, like the pain hasn't killed him), putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He looks away from me as he starts crying. I pat his back, pick up the things they brought in to cook for dinner, and walk into the kitchen.

After a few minutes Kevin comes in and starts helping me, eyes still wet, not saying a word.

"I'll be along after a while," I tell Kevin later as him and Macy are leaving.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?" Macy asks Stella.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Stella says weakly. Macy nods and walks out the door.

"Nick," Stella says as the door shuts. "do you think Joe would want me to be like this? Shutting everyone out?"

I walked over to her and moved her hair out of her face. "He would hate to see you sad, Stella. He loved you, and wouldn't want you to block out the rest of the world just because he can't be here."

This starts her off crying again, harder than before. I pull her into a hug, and she lays her head on my chest.

"Do you want me to stay with you tonight?" I ask her after she's done crying. She looks at me and nods.

"Thank you."

When it's time to go to bed she brings few covers and pillows downstairs for me. I make a bed on the couch, and she stands and watches me.

"Goodnight," I say, walking over to her and kissing her on the forehead.

She nods, as if telling me the same, and then walks upstairs.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey! I know it's been a long time. Sorry! But I'm back now! I swear I'll try to update more often now! I fell out of the fanfiction groove for a while, but I'm back now! Anyways, please excuse any mistakes, and please review and let me know what you think! Thanks! Have a great day! xxHeartBrokenxx**

Nick's POV

I wake up to the doorbell. I open my eyes groggily as I hop off the couch. I see Stella sitting at the kitchen table, sadly sipping her coffee. As I open the door I see that the sky is overcast.

"Dad," I say, confused. "Is there, is there anything wrong?"

He pulls an envelope from his jacket pocket. "We found this in Joe's old room. It's for Stella." His voice almost gives out on the last words. He meets my eyes with grief in his own. "Please give it to her."

I nod as he walks away. I look at the back of the envelope and see Stella's name written in Joe's neat handwriting.

"Stella," I say quietly, walking into the kitchen. She looks up at me questioningly, that despairing look that haunts her eyes every second of the day now still there. I hand her the letter and watch many emotions cross her face as she reads.

When she finishes she puts the note in her pocket and manages to choke out the words, "Excuse me." I watch her walk out the back door. After thirty minutes Stella hasn't returned so I decide to go out and check on her. I look around the backyard but my eyes don't locate her.

I hear something in the woods and trudge in. In a little ways in she sits with her back to the trunk of a tree, her knees pulled into her chest, looking blankly straight ahead at nothing.

"Stella?" I say gently. "Stella? Are you okay?"

She doesn't say anything.

I walk over and sit next to her, wrapping my arms around her.

She's still unmoving.

I shudder as I feel how cold her skin is.

"Stella," I whisper.

All of a sudden she lays her head against my chest and starts sobbing.

"How can a person have so many tears?" she weeps pathetically.

"Stella, I know this hard on you. I can't imagine _how_ hard, though. I mean, you and Joe loved each other. But, you _will_ get through this. _We will get through this. I promise."_

_She nods but doesn't say anything. _

_After a minute, she wipes her tears away and sits up._

"_Here," she says weakly, handing me the letter._

_I take it from her and read._

_It's just Joe talking about how much he loved her, how happy he was to be marrying her, spending the rest of his life with her. _

_I feel myself choking up by the end of it._

_As I hand it back to Stella the tears are streaming down her face again._

_Later that night I spend extra time praying for all of us, but especially Stella._

_After I'm done I just sit there for a few minutes, thinking. _

_Then I get up and walk upstairs._

"_Stella?" I say, knocking on her doorframe._

"_Yeah?" she says._

_I look in and see her sitting cross-legged on her bed. _

"_I'm going to take you out tomorrow," I say._

"_Nick, I'm not ready-" she starts, but I cut her off._

"_Stella, please. It'll be okay, I promise. Get a good nights sleep, now. Goodnight." And with that I go back downstairs to the couch and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep._


End file.
